Alameda USD, AEA Sign Tentative Agreement

From Alameda Unified School District:

ALAMEDA, CA — Negotiators for the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) and the Alameda Education Association (AEA) reached a tentative agreement (TA) Friday in their negotiations over salary and other contract considerations.

Under the terms of the two-year agreement, members of the AEA (which represents teachers, nurses, speech and language pathologists, and counselors) will receive a salary increase. The district and union also agreed to provisions that will:

• Increase flexibility for using leave time;
• Set up committees to study teacher salaries, budget priorities, and best practices for instructing students who receive special education; and
• Create a Curriculum Council to deepen district/teacher collaboration on instructional materials and professional development.

In addition, the existing Calendar Committee will create school calendars through the 2018-19 school year.

“Our members have made a tremendous effort to help us gain a settlement,” said AEA President Audrey Hyman. “This agreement respects their concerns regarding maintaining current class size. It also reflects a number of gains for AEA, including incorporating more formal options to add our professional voice into key district decision-making processes that affect teaching and learning in AUSD.”

The next step is for AEA members and AUSD's Board of Education to vote on whether to ratify this new agreement. Union members will vote from October 17 to October 21, 2016. The Board of Education will vote on ratification at its regular meeting on November 1, 2016.

“I am heartened by this good news and am inspired by the levels of cooperation shown in this tentative agreement with AEA,” said Superintendent Sean McPhetridge. “I am very grateful to our negotiating teams for their resilience, flexibility, and ability to compromise in coming to this agreement.”

Added Solana Henneberry, president of the Board of Education, “I am pleased with how quickly the negotiating teams came together to address the ongoing concerns of AEA members, and now I look forward to increased levels of communication for the benefit of all students in the district.

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